India spends ₹5.94 lakh crore on defence annually. Only 26% of defence equipment is currently sourced domestically. Innoscale's Defence Tech Hub backs the founders building that indigenous capability — from cybersecurity to drone systems to soldier welfare technology.
India's defence indigenisation opportunity: Under the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020, India mandates a minimum 50-68% indigenous content in defence procurement. The government's Positive Indigenisation List has identified 411 items that must be sourced domestically — creating a ₹50,000 crore+ opportunity for Indian startups.
Ministry of Defence, GoI / DRDO / iDEX 2024Delhi NCR is home to India's largest cluster of defence PSUs, DRDO laboratories, and aerospace OEM supply chains. Noida's proximity to the Defence Research Complex and India's growing drone manufacturing corridor makes it the natural home for Innoscale's Defence Tech Hub.
Every startup here must demonstrate a clear path to operational deployment — either with the armed forces, paramilitary, or dual-use civilian infrastructure.
A glimpse into the environments where founders build, mentors guide, and breakthroughs happen.
Four active portfolio startups from the NCR Defence Tech Hub — each addressing a defined gap in India's indigenous defence capability chain.
SkyShield deploys passive RF + acoustic sensor arrays that detect, classify, and track unauthorised drones within a 5km radius — without emitting any signal that reveals the detection system's position. Selected for iDEX DISC Challenge 10. Field-tested at 2 Indian Air Force stations.
FieldGuard's military-grade wearable monitors pulse, SpO2, temperature, dehydration markers, and GPS location — transmitting encrypted vitals to unit commanders every 60 seconds via low-power mesh radio. DRDO Technology Development Fund recipient. 80-unit pilot with a mountain infantry regiment.
Vedas Crypto implements NIST-standardised post-quantum cryptographic algorithms in lightweight hardware security modules designed for field communication devices — providing quantum-resistant encryption without the computational overhead that prohibits use in low-power field equipment.
LogiArm provides real-time visibility and predictive failure modelling for military vehicle fleets — using IoT telemetry and ML to predict maintenance windows 3-4 weeks before critical failure. Piloting with DRDO CVRDE (Combat Vehicles Research) support.
A record of impact built one founder at a time — in this region, for this community.
Defence Tech Cohort 3 now open. iDEX registration support, DRDO grant pathways, and dual-use commercialisation included.